Austin, Texas  –  Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson allegedly blew a red light shortly after 3 a.m. this morning in Austin, Texas and was arrested and charged with drunk driving, police said.

This is Benson’s second alcohol-related arrest in just over a month.

Early this morning Benson was driving in downtown Austin near the entertainment district when he drove his BMW through a red light at 3:15 a.m., said Austin police spokeswoman Veneza Aguinaga.

Officers performed field sobriety tests on Benson and based on his poor performance, they arrested him for driving while intoxicated, Aguinaga said. Benson refused to take a Breathalyzer test or offer a blood sample, she said. He was otherwise cooperative, she said.

Five hours after the incident, at 8:48 a.m., Benson was released from Travis County Jail after posting $2,000 bond, a jail officer said.

Benson’s timing couldn’t have been worse, as today is the Bears Expo at Soldier Field.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said the news was “hard to believe.”

“We are certainly going to take this very seriously,” Angelo said this morning.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you we are not extremely dissappointed and frustrated with this,’’ he said. “Anybody would be in this situation.’’

Angelo said the team was still investigating the facts of what happened, but said players have to be held accountable for their actions.

Angelo said he hadn’t yet spoken with Benson, but said he was “surprised he put himself in this situation.’’

Angelo gave a similar reaction to Benson’s arrest in early May on Lake Travis, which is near Austin, on charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, both class B misdemeanors. Those charges are still pending. Benson has denied the charges and claimed he was mistreated by police in that arrest, but Angelo said the running back should not have put himself in the position in the first place.

Benson has been arrested previously on charges ranging from speeding to drug possession, although some of the charges were dropped.

Two weeks ago, Benson appeared in court in Skokie to pay a $510 fine for speeding through a construction site on the Edens Expy., according to WBBM.com. Benson also was sentenced to four months supervision for the incident.

Benson reportedly was going 77 mph, more than 30 mph over the speed limit.

The report said Benson was driving a 2005 BMW with Texas plates. Police described Benson as cooperative.

He was arrested in 2002 on drug and alcohol charges in his hometown of Midland, Texas, but the charges, including a Class B misdemeanor for possession of marijuana, later were dropped.

He was arrested again in October 2003 and charged with criminal trespassing after kicking in an apartment door in a failed attempt to recover a television he had reported stolen the previous November. He received an 8-day jail sentence.